Try to guess: Who is the best friend of modern app developers? Take your time. Have any assumptions? Well, I will not make you wait. The answer is mobile app development platforms.
With the increasing number of mobile platforms, developers face more difficulties. I can name at least 3 platforms that are more or less popular among users. It’s not a secret that each platform has its specific and unique capabilities, features and behavior. What does it mean in practice? You have to spend more time and resources to tailor your app according to peculiar properties of each platform.
It’s not just about choosing between Android and iOS development, as you can see. Nevertheless, don’t be scared. I have an easy way out for you.
Fortunately, there are some excellent developer tools in the market today, which can help you to smooth the differences. I’m talking about mobile application development platforms. Let’s find out what it is and how it works!
Mobile development platforms: the key to a quick and easy development
A mobile development platform is a set of tools, which provides a number of useful features to create a near-native UX by virtue of a more effective development approach. It’s indispensable if you want to create multi-platform apps with code reuse.
How does it work in practice? Take a look at this 3-step process:
- Firstly, you should write a core part of your app. At this moment pay attention to the most general elements and think about an app concept, its interface and capabilities.
- After you are done with the core, concentrate on a more detailed app development. It includes adding features and considering guidelines that are specific to each platform. This step is the moment when you creating a near-native user experience.
- Finally, use a development platform to assemble the application by combining a common core and specific features. As a result, you will get the app available for different platforms (there may be even more than 2).
What development platforms to use for the best efficiency? Let’s find out!
Top 5 mobile application development platforms
Despite all development platforms are united by the one main idea – to provide developers with the opportunity to build for multiple platforms at the same time – there are plenty of them. Which one to choose? Check out a top 5 list by Stormotion team!
React Native
React Native was created by Facebook in 2015. Nowadays it’s one of the most popular development platforms due to its outstanding performance and simplicity. Using JavaScript programming language you will be able to create apps for both Android and iOS.
Xamarin
Xamarin, which is a Microsoft product, is another contender for the title “best mobile app development platform”. Unlike many other development platforms, Xamarin uses C# programming language and .NET framework, and allows its users building native apps for Android, iOS, Windows and Mac.
Appcelerator
Appcelerator gives developers with an experience in JavaScript a great opportunity to create native apps not only for iOS and Android but also for Windows and Blackberry. Despite it’s not free, you can start with a free trial. Later you will be offered a month or annual subscription at a cost from $36 up to $259 per month.
Kony
According to the Gartner Magic Quadrant, this mobile development platform has been recognized as a Leader 4 years in a row. After its debut in 2007, Kony has shown a great organic growth. Nowadays Kony offers a wide range of tools for building universal mobile apps.
Appy Pie
Appy Pie is not a mobile development platform in the usual sense. It’s a kind of DIY (do it yourself) app makers. You won’t need any coding skills to build an app – you can just compile it from existing templates. Of course, you can customize your app by adding some extra features or changing a content and design.
It’s possible to use it for free, but for the better experience you can buy a subscription for $15-50 per month.
Conclusion
Nowadays mobile app developers have many modern tools which allow simultaneously create applications for different platforms. Among the leading ones are React Native, Xamarin, Appcelerator and Kony. Appy Pie can be considered as a good example of DIY app maker.
Such mobile application development platforms help to manage your time and efforts more effectively. Nevertheless, you should always remember that the best experience can be achieved only with a native development.
